More than a Thesis
by MissMune
Summary: While in captivity, she had essentially admitted it outright. She was jealous of the amazing things her brother could do. When envy turns into action, problems are sure to ensue. ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.


**Disclaimer: **No, sadly I do not own Danny Phantom. That right belongs to Butch Hartman and Nick.

**Authors Notes: **So, this stemmed from firefury's plot bunny, called (big surprise) More than a Thesis. So, the idea goes to her, not me. Also, keep this in mind that this is my first work here on FF. Yep, that's all, enjoy.

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"Mmpf," a gentle moan came from the mouth of Jazz Fenton, "Hah! Take that you…" she said sleepily while lifting her arm forward, palm up. "It's no use beeping at me! I'll show no mercy!" _Wait…beeping?_ She thought, as she opened her eyes. _Oh…it was a dream_, she thought, smacking her alarm clock and weakly lifted her self out of bed.

_Of course it was a dream_, she thought dully, opening her closet and pulling out her usual outfit, looking at it with dismay. She knew she had to put it on, and once again put on the façade of the happy, well-meaning (if not a little over bearing) sister.

It's not like she wasn't happy, Jazz thought as she headed down the stairs, she just felt like something had been missing in her life lately.

Jazz would be the first person to psychoanalyze other people's problems, but she couldn't bear to do it to herself. She just couldn't. She had tried, oh, how she had tried. She had been trying for the past month! But, it just never seemed to work for her - she would end up blocking herself out, and she couldn't break down her own emotional walls like she could with other people; she knew her every move.

But, deep in her heart, she knew what her problem was – it was ghost envy. She knew, and she _knew_ she knew, but she just couldn't admit it to herself. After all, she still remembered her little chat with Freakshow about that particular topic. Now _he_, _he_ had an extreme case of ghost envy! She was nothing compared to him!

_But still_, she thought sadly, _what if I become like him?_

What if she did become like him? Obsessed with controlling ghosts? No, she wouldn't do that, she couldn't. She was far too good of a sister to betray her brother like that. Yes, she loved her brother, and she would never let anything happen to him, especially because of her, if it came to that.

The young red-headed girl sighed tiredly, and headed into the kitchen. No one was there yet, of course. Danny was never up before her, and her parents were no doubt in the lab already. Jazz grabbed an apple, chomping on it before she flopped down into one of the hard, high-backed dining room chairs.

She could hear someone heading down the stairs, and looked back just in time to see Danny entering the kitchen. "Hey Jazz," he said, sleepily.

"Morning, Danny," Jazz responded, inspecting her brother carefully, making sure he was ok. There didn't seem to be any new injuries, and he looked to be in a fine mood. Good, she was glad; at least the weight of his responsibility wasn't getting to him.

Standing up, almost in a frail way, she plodded back into the living room, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder, wincing only slightly when one of the buckles hit her in the face. Sparing a fleeting look back at her brother, she slowly turned the door knob, but, she stopped halfway, hearing her father barreling up the stairs from the lab. Jazz could hear him blathering on to Danny about some new ghost weapon that, according to him, was guaranteed to "rip apart ghosts molecule by molecule."

She chuckled darkly as she headed out into the crisp morning; she was sure that Danny would be _thrilled_ with new invention, not that it was likely to do what it was supposed to, anyway.

The walk from home to school was a lonely one. Jazz never had anyone to walk with, or to talk with, maybe that was why she always doted on Danny so much. She even occasionally tried to integrate into his circle of friends. As much as she hated to admit it, she was lonely.

She paused; she had just broken through one of her emotional barriers without even trying! In light of her partial success, Jazz began to hum to herself, even though she wasn't exactly sure being lonely was bothering her. It had never bothered her before, and she was sure she didn't just come down with a sudden bout of loneliness. No, she had always been this way.

The teen stopped humming at this thought. She always had been lonely, hadn't she? Had she ever even _had_ any friends? Real friends, that was, she had plenty of people that were willing to pretend to like her, just so they could get her to do their homework; she had never fallen for this ploy.

_Hmpf¸_ she thought, angrily, _Ok, so maybe I never did have friends but…I have a family that loves me, at least! And Danny's friends seem to like me well enough…_ Danny's friends, she remembered talking to him about not having hardly any friends right before she found out his secret. Hah! She was one to talk! At least he had more friends than her!

_But at least I have good grades_, she added, pitifully. _And this is just where I can prove it¸ _she thought, slightly more hopeful as she looked up to the looming presence of Casper High School, and picked up her pace, just a bit.

Jazz loved learning, she truly did, but, sometimes, she wondered if she did so well in school, and devoted so much time to her studies just to have an excuse for not having any friends. And, she supposed, it had worked, hadn't it? No one ever questioned why she was almost always alone, they always knew that she was the genius, and she needed her space to do the amazing work she did. Right, that's all people ever gave her, wasn't it? Space?

"Hey! Would you give me some space?" Jazz looked up, startled. Were they talking to her?

No, they weren't, of course, or, rather, Tucker wasn't. Still, it took her a moment to process the scene that was unfolding in front of her. A needy looking Paulina was fawning over some black tees that Tucker was selling, and, as Jazz drew closer, she could see that wasn't the only thing he was selling.

The techno-geek had lined up all sorts of Danny Phantom merchandise. Jazz could see that the black tees that Tucker couldn't pull Paulina away from were emblazoned with the "DP" symbol. He also had bobble heads, plushies, children's toys, bouncy balls, sweaters, bracelets, hair bands, gloves, and even a small button that you could wear, declaring your love for Danny Phantom. At all this, she couldn't help but gape.

"Nice, eh?" Tucker said slyly, sidling up to Jazz.

"Tucker…" she said, disapprovingly. What if his greed exposed Danny? Honestly, that boy would do anything to pay off his PDAs.

"Lighten up, Jazz!" Tucker said, "I actually got permission from Danny this time!"

"This time?" Jazz said with concern. He had done this kind of thing before?

Tucker looked uncomfortable, "Um, well, you see…" he muttered, clumsily. "Oh, look! I have customers! Later, Jazz!" Tucker said quickly, running back behind the little stand had set up for the mounds of merchandise he was selling. Honestly, how did he get the money to pay for all this stuff, anyway?

After that little incident, Jazz was slightly irritated. What Tucker was doing was completely irresponsible! What if someone guessed Danny's secret because of it? Though, she admitted, that was rather unlikely. No one even had any reason to believe that Danny Phantom was a half-ghost, anyway, let alone meek, little Danny Fenton.

Yes, Danny would be fine, she thought as she opened her locker, and pulled out the stuff she needed for first hour.

As the day went on, Jazz was getting more and more irritated with Tucker's little "business." That's all people were talking about: in the halls, in the classrooms, at lunch, at their lockers, in the bathrooms, in the locker rooms, everywhere! All they were talking about was how great all the products they bought were, and how they were going to go back for more. She even heard one kid say he was going to buy a DP shirt for everyone in his family; he was such a big fan.

Even the teachers were getting in on the madness. All she had done in Calculus today was listen to Mrs. Uien go on and on about her favorite hero of all time! And how great he was!

Sure, Danny was great; he was a great brother, and, yes, a hero, but Jazz didn't think that he should be incorporated into school, at all.

She was so overwhelmed by the propaganda that by the end of the day, Jazz felt like she just might explode, as she began her walk home, alone once again. Sometimes she would walk home with Danny and his friends, but she had a feeling they were trying to avoid her today; they knew she didn't approve of this.

_No homework today_, Jazz thought dully, as she threw her backpack onto her spotless bedroom floor. _Except_, _to work on my thesis_, she continued, picking up her laptop and turning it on.

_Let's see_, she thought as her thesis loaded up, _"This thirst for power can cause damage to both humans and ghosts alike." _She typed, picking up where she left off, _"One with ghost envy could even go to desperate measures, turning themselves into a ghost." _

_Turning themselves into a ghost?_ Jazz thought, _Maybe that's a bit excessive…but…maybe…it wouldn't be so bad…Maybe it would even be cool. _Jazz broke away from that line of thinking, slightly shocked she had thought that. She turned back to her work, but just couldn't focus after that.

With an overly dramatic sigh, she clicked out of the thesis window, and just stared at her desktop, looking over the icons with general disinterest. "Hmm?" Jazz mumbled, gaze falling upon an icon shaped like Danny Phantom's now famous symbol. Clicking on it, almost unconsciously, she was surprised when she saw a new button she had somehow never noticed before on the ghost file menu.

It must have been something she had downloaded accidentally while she had been getting the ghost files. Out of pure curiosity, Jazz double clicked on it.

PASSWORD?

Of course there would be a password! She never knew this existed so she never disabled it…She hoped Danny was just as obvious as ever…

paulinafenton

She entered and…it worked! Jazz laughed, and thanked heavens for teen hormones.

The page she was taken to was fairly simple, and not nearly as well done as the ghost files. Its heading read "How it happened" and, under that, there were several pictures with small captions beneath them.

There was a picture of Sam, Tucker, and Danny outside of the ghost portal.

"I was curious about the new ghost portal, and so was Sam. She said there could be all sorts of cool stuff in the ghost zone."

The next one was of Danny in a black and white jumpsuit, looking into the portal.

"I decided to go into it, but my hand slipped and I hit the "ON" button by mistake."

The final picture was of Danny Phantom, floating in the air triumphantly.

"Ever since then I've been Danny Phantom."

"This page is so I never forget."

_So that's how it happened, _Jazz thought, _I never knew that…why didn't Danny ever tell me?_

She looked at the pictures again; Jazz could see the proper settings on the ghost portal to make the accident. _Maybe I could do that..._

_Wait, what?_ _Why would I want to do that? I'm being silly. _Jazz decided, and closed her laptop.

"Jazz! Danny! Dinner!" she heard her father call from downstairs.

_Yes_, she thought as she stood up and walked towards her bedroom door, _I'm just being silly._


End file.
